Exemplary embodiments of inventive concepts relate to a graphics processing technique, and more particularly, to a graphics processing unit (GPU) capable of calculating a level-of-detail (LOD) for tessellation or texturing using geometry information and adjusting the LOD using non-geometry information, a method of operating the same, and devices including the same.
In computer graphics, LOD involves adjusting image detail according to distance from a viewer. Such adjustments principally take the form of decreasing the complexity of a three-dimensional (3D) object representation as it moves away from a viewer.
LOD techniques increase the efficiency of rendering by decreasing the workload on graphics pipeline stages (for example, vertex transformations). LOD is usually generated using geometry information only. For example, LOD is generated based on depth values of control points or curvature in tessellation. LOD is generated based on distances between texels of adjacent pixels in texturing.
However, visual appearance is not defined based on geometry information and, as a result, if LOD is not appropriately adjusted, the efficiency of rendering and visual quality will not be satisfactory.